The present invention pertains to a process and a device for evaluating the quality or the analysis of a printing ink, especially for evaluating the suitability of a printing ink being investigated for printing, especially offset printing.
Besides the printing materials, the ink used as well as the behavior of the ink in conjunction with water greatly affect the printing result as well as the stability of the printing process running over a rather long time and under different operating conditions. A printing ink used must be able to take up water to a certain extent especially for offset printing.
The so-called Surland test, according to which 50 g of ink are stirred with 50 g of water, is known for determining the water uptake capacity of an ink. The excess water not taken up by the ink is poured off after 5 minutes. If the ink has taken up 10 to 15 g of water during these 5 minutes, it is considered to be good according to the Surland test, whereas the ink is considered to be unsuitable for offset printing if it has taken up more than 20 g of water. FIG. 11 shows the moistening agent uptake behavior of different inks A through F used over time, where it can be seen that the inks A through D and F have taken up approximately equal quantities b of moistening agent after exposure to a water bath for the duration a of 5 minutes, so that the corresponding characteristics all pass through the equilibrium point P. The ink E shows a relatively poor water uptake behavior and is therefore unsuitable for offset printing.
Moreover, manual stirring tests are known for determining the saturation limit of the moistening agent uptake capacity of an ink; whether the amount of the stirring effort needed is great or small is assessed in these manual stirring tests by instinctive feeling only. In particular, it is not possible to predict whether a certain printing ink can indeed be used in offset printing or not.
A device for determining the emulsification behavior and the saturation limit of an ink is available commercially from the firm of Novocontrol under the name xe2x80x9cLithotronic Emulsification Tester.xe2x80x9d This device has a container for an ink sample, into which extends a stirring device in order to stir an ink filled into it, and the torque occurring during the stirring is measured. According to the test procedure proposed by the manufacturer of the device, the ink sample is first stirred at 1,200 rpm until the torque measured becomes constant. Water is then added continuously at a rate of 1.5 to 3 g per minute. When the torque collapses, the saturation limit of the ink is reached, i.e., water added additionally is no longer taken up by the ink, and it thus permits an easier run of the testing device.
FIG. 12 shows a test result obtained with this device, where two different inks A and B were introduced into the device and stirred continuously for 5 minutes, so that the torque was constant at about 230 mNm and the temperature was constant at about 40xc2x0 C. The continuous addition of water was started after 5 minutes. As can be seen from FIG. 12, the torque to be applied for stirring increases in the case of ink A for about 11 minutes after the beginning of the addition of water and then gradually collapses. The amount of water taken up by the ink sample can be determined from the amount of water added during this time, i.e., the saturation limit of the ink can be determined. The torque to be applied during stirring remains constant in the case of the ink B tested for about 4 minutes after the beginning of the addition of water and then decreases continuously. Thus, a saturation limit can also be determined for ink B, and it can be qualitatively read from the diagram that the water uptake capacity of ink B is lower than that of ink A. As another parameter, it can be read from the diagram in FIG. 12 that ink A has an increasing wet viscosity, i.e., the viscosity increases during the addition of water, whereas ink B has a decreasing wet viscosity, i.e., it is becoming less viscous during the addition of water. Even though this ink testing process makes possible a certain standardization during the testing of different inks, the parameters determined, namely, the wet viscosity behavior and the saturation limit, are essentially unsuitable for making statements on whether an ink being tested leads to good or poor results in the printing process.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a process and a device with which parameters for evaluating the quality of an ink can be determined. In particular, processes and a device shall be provided according to the present invention which make it possible to make a statement on whether an ink is suitable or unsuitable for a printing process and to determine where problems will occur during the use of that ink.
According to the invention, a process is provided for evaluating the quality of a printing ink. A defined quantity of the printing ink is stirred. A force or energy applied during stirring or a torque applied is measured. A defined quantity of moistening agent is added to the ink at a defined time, preferably all at once.
According to another aspect of the invention, a process is provided for determining the moistening agent content in an ink sample. The saturation limit of a fresh ink is determined. A moistening agent is added to the ink sample during ongoing stirring. The point in time at which the force to be applied for stirring or the torque to be applied drops below a predetermined limit is measured. The moistening agent content is determined from the determined saturation limit of the fresh ink and the time period determined.
According to still a further aspect of the invention, a device for evaluating the quality of a printing ink is provided including a container for the printing ink, a stirring device, with which an ink filled into the container can be stirred, a measuring device for measuring the force to be applied by the stirring device or the torque to be applied and a moistening agent supply. A control actuates the moistening agent supply such that a preset quantity of moistening agent is introduced into the container at a defined point in time.
The present invention is based on the following discovery, which will be described below with reference to FIG. 13. FIG. 13 schematically shows the surface of a printing plate, where an ink-attracting, smooth area Z and a water-attractive, rough or porous area Y are shown next to one another. Water is first applied to the printing plate during the printing process prior to the printing operation proper, and this lies on the smooth area Z as a thin film of water and is taken up to a comparatively greater extent by the rough or porous area. An ink is subsequently applied to the printing plate. The ink takes up the thin film of water lying on the ink-attracting areas Z of the printing plate and is thus deposited on these areas. However, the rough area Y has taken up more water than the smooth area Z and acts as a reservoir of water because of its uneven surface finish or porosity. As a consequence, the ink applied to the water-attracting area Y cannot take up the total amount of water being stored, as a consequence of which it cannot be deposited on area Y of the printing ink and cannot be washed off from the printing plate in a subsequent step.
Since only a certain, defined time period is available during the printing operation, during which an ink applied must take up the film of water lying on the smooth layer Z, but the ink must not take up so much water that it will be deposited on the water-attracting, rough area Y, it was recognized by the inventor that to determine the quality of a printing ink, it must be determined, on the one hand, whether a printing ink does take up water too rapidly, because this ink would otherwise possibly also be deposited on the water-attracting area Y, and the initial water uptake also must not last too long, because the printing ink is otherwise unable to take up the thin film of water and it would also be washed off from the ink-attracting area Z.
According to the process according to the present invention for evaluating the quality of a printing ink, a defined quantity of ink, e.g., 25 mg, is first stirred. Stirring is defined in the sense of the present invention as stirring by means of a suitable rotating element, but also as any other process with which thorough mixing of a liquid can be achieved. If a stirring element is used, this may, e.g., also be suitably moved through the ink without performing a rotary movement in order to thus stir or thoroughly mix the ink. It is also possible to move an ink container with or without a stirring element in it in a suitable manner, e.g., to rotate it or to repeatedly tilt it somewhat to the side in order to stir the ink. The force to be applied or a torque to be applied during the stirring or the necessary output or energy is now measured. This may be performed, e.g., by measuring the torque in the case of a stirring element introduced into the ink. However, depending on the stirring process employed, it is also possible to measure other forces or torques occurring. After the ink has been stirred for a certain time, preferably after the torque to be applied has stabilized, a defined amount of moistening agent, e.g., 1 g to 50 g tap water or distilled water, is added to the ink within a short time, preferably all at once, so that a large quantity of water is suddenly available. This approximately corresponds to the conditions occurring during the printing operation, when the ink is applied to the printing plate within a very short time and if the ink is suitable, it takes up the water so rapidly that it is deposited on the smooth, ink-attractive area Z, but the ink does not take up so much water that it would be deposited on the water-attracting area Y. For example, the water uptake behavior of the ink is determined in the process according to the present invention on the basis of the measured force to be applied during stirring. Immediately after the rapid supply of the defined amount of water, the ink and the water are still in the segregated state, so that the ink-water mixture can be stirred easily. If a stirring element is used for stirring, it can be seen that the torque collapses in most inks immediately after the addition of the defined quantity of water, because these inks cannot take up the water immediately. If no collapse or no appreciable collapse of the torque can be measured, this indicates that the ink has taken up the water added very rapidly. Such an ink would be unsuitable for a printing process, because this ink with very good and rapid water uptake behavior would also be deposited on the water-attracting area Y. If the torque collapses, it can be observed in the course of time, usually after a few minutes, that the torque rises again, i.e., the water added is gradually taken up by the ink sample being investigated. Whether the ink can take up the water added after a preset time and is thus suitable for the printing process or whether the torque collapses for too long, from which poor water uptake behavior of the ink can be inferred, can be determined from the increase in the torque. Such an ink would not be deposited on the ink-attracting smooth area Z of a printing plate, either, because this ink is unable to take up even the thin film of water present on the ink-attracting smooth area Z within the time available during the printing process and is thus unable to be deposited on the ink-attracting area Z, but it would be washed off from this area. Thus, the process according to the present invention can provide information on the rate of water uptake of an ink after the ink suddenly comes into contact with a predetermined quantity of water or is mixed with same. It is thus possible, e.g., to plot diagrams which represent quantitative information on the force to be applied or the torque to be applied during the stirring of the ink overtime, where, in particular, the time period after the rapid addition of the defined quantity of water, the so-called water shock, is of particular significance. Examples of such diagrams are shown in FIGS. 1 through 10 and will be described later.
Even though curves of the measured torque, which were determined in the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 1 through 10, are shown, it shall be noted that the present invention is not limited to the examples shown. Depending on the quantity of ink being tested, the quantity of water added, the stirring process, the temperature or other parameters, other characteristics can be obtained, in which the shape of the curve of an ink suitable for the printing process is different. However, a curve different from that for a poor printing ink can always be obtained, in general, for a good printing ink by the process according to the present invention, and the characteristic features of the curves may be optionally determined by tests.
The ink is preferably stirred with a rotating element, especially a stirrer, which is introduced into a container, in which the ink is located. The stirring element may be placed, e.g., in the upper area of the ink sample filled in, i.e., a stirring element performs a stirring movement, e.g., only in the upper area of the ink filled in and does not extend to the bottom of the ink container, so that the stirring element performs a stirring movement predominantly in the contact area between water and ink during the sudden introduction of water before the mixing process takes place.
The stirring of the ink sample is advantageously carried out continuously without and/or with moistening agent added, i.e., for example, at a constant speed of rotation. As an alternative, stirring may also be performed at first at a first, e.g., higher rate until, e.g., the torque to be applied becomes approximately constant and the ink is uniformly liquefied, after which the stirring is then performed at a second, e.g., lower rate in order to obtain a better time resolution of the force, torque or energy curve measured.
The ink sample is especially stirred first at a first speed of rotation during a first time period, e.g., for 2 minutes at 1,200 rpm, after which the speed of rotation is changed, especially reduced, e.g., to 300 rpm, for the further process in order to obtain a better time resolution of the characteristics. If stirring is carried out at a high speed of rotation after the addition of the moistening agent, more rapid uptake of the moistening agent by the ink sample takes place because of the better mixing. However, if the ink sample is stirred first at a higher speed of rotation in order to obtain a defined initial state, e.g., in order to liquefy the ink based on the thixotropic behavior of the ink sample, the rate of water uptake can be reduced by lowering the speed of rotation, so that a better time resolution is obtained. For example, it was determined in a test actually performed that the difference between the rates of water uptake by two inks at 1,200 rpm was approx. 20%, whereas the rate of water uptake differed by a factor of 10 at a speed of rotation of 300 rpm, i.e., more accurate information can be obtained with the process according to the present invention at lower speeds of rotation or slower stirring operations.
The temperature of the ink sample can preferably be set or regulated, e.g., by means of a thermostat or a regulated heating element coupled with a temperature sensor in order to always perform measurements in a preset, preferably constant temperature range. In particular, the measurement is preferably carried out in the temperature range of 20xc2x0 C. to 60xc2x0 C., advantageously 30xc2x0 C. to 50xc2x0 C. and especially in the range of 40xc2x0 C.
It is advantageous to add the total, defined quantity of moistening agent to the ink sample only when the force to be applied during the stirring or a torque and/or the temperature is constant. It was found in practical experiments that sufficiently constant values are reached for the temperature and for the force to be applied or a torque after about 3 to 5 minutes.
More moistening agent is advantageously added at a continuous rate after the one-time addition of a defined quantity of moistening agent after a preset time period, so that the saturation limit of the ink can be determined, i.e., the point in time at which the torque collapses is determined, so that the maximum uptake capacity of the ink for moistening agent, i.e., the quantity of moistening agent that can be taken up per quantity of ink can be calculated from this. As was described above, it is possible to determine in the case of continuous addition of moistening agent whether the wet viscosity of an ink increases or decreases, i.e., whether the viscosity of an ink increases or decreases during the slow addition of moistening agent.
According to another aspect of the present invention, it is possible to determine the moistening agent or water content of an ink sample, which was taken, e.g., from a running printing process, in order to obtain from this data on the course of the water uptake during the printing process. Consequently, a fresh ink is used at the beginning of a printing process, and this fresh ink can come into contact with moistening agent in different areas during the printing process and it can take up different quantities of moisture. If, e.g., an ink sample is taken from a printing plate at a defined point of the printing process, it can be determined by determining the moistening agent content in this ink sample whether this ink sample is suitable for the printing process or whether it has led or will lead to unsatisfactory printing results, e.g., because of a too rapid or too slow uptake of moistening agent. The saturation limit of the fresh ink is first determined according to the present invention by, e.g., supplying water continuously to an ink being stirred as described above until this ink can no longer take up water and the force to be applied during the stirring decreases because of the dilution of the saturated ink by excess moistening agent, i.e., for example, the stirring torque collapses. The saturation limit of the fresh ink thus determined is used as a reference variable for the later calculation. Moistening agent is added to the ink sample being tested according to the present invention while stirring is continued until the saturation limit of the ink sample being tested is reached. This may again be performed, e.g., as described above by measuring the force to be applied during a stirring operation. The amount of moistening agent or water that has already been taken up by the ink sample prior to the addition of more moistening agent can be calculated from these two values determined, i.e., the saturation limit of the fresh ink and the quantity of moistening agent added to the ink sample. If, for example, an ink sample of 30 g is tested, for which the speed of rotation is reduced to 300 rpm after an initial stirring at a speed of, e.g., 1,200 rpm for a period of 2 minutes, and the continuous addition of moistening agent is started at a rate of 2.5 g per minute after the stirring for 3 minutes at 300 rpm until the torque collapses, the percentage water content in the ink sample can be determined from the following formulas (1) through (4):
Weight(ink sample+water)=30 g+injection time*2.5 g per minutexe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1) 
Water(at saturation limit)=saturation limit(of fresh ink sample)/100*weight(ink sample+water)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2) 
Water(in original ink sample)=water(at saturation limit)xe2x88x92injection time*2.5 g per minutexe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3) 
percentage water content in ink sample=(waterin original ink sample)/30 g)*100xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4) 
In particular, the saturation limit of an ink shall be above 30% according to this test procedure in order to obtain good printing results.
The device according to the present invention for evaluating the quality of a printing ink has a container, into which the ink to be tested can be introduced. Furthermore, a stirring device is provided, which may be, as was explained above, e.g., a stirring element that can be introduced into the container or a rotating and/or tilting device for the container with or without a stirring element introduced into it. The force to be applied for stirring the ink present in the container or a torque to be applied or an energy or output to be applied is measured by a measuring device and is preferably plotted in the form of a diagram over a time axis. A moistening agent feed and a control for the moistening agent feed are preferably provided according to the present invention, the control being designed such that a defined quantity of moistening agent can be added to the ink present in the container at a defined point in time. Qualitative data can then be obtained on the suitability of the ink for printing, especially offset printing, on the basis of the force or torque curve determined by the measuring device after the addition of the moistening agent.
A temperature-regulating device, especially a thermostat with a temperature sensor and a heating device, is preferably provided in order to bring the container for the ink to a suitable temperature, so that measurements can also be carried out in a defined temperature range.
The control is advantageously designed such that one or more of the above-described process steps, for example, the continuous addition of a moistening agent after the water shock, i.e., after the one-time addition of a defined quantity of moistening agent, the setting of the range of speeds of rotation for the initial stirring of the ink at a first, higher speed of rotation and for the further stirring of the ink at a second, lower speed of rotation, at which the moistening agent is added, etc., can be carried out with the device according to the present invention.
A device for carrying out the above-mentioned process, especially combined with a printing press, is also proposed according to the present invention, wherein the above-described device for determining the quality of a printing ink is provided combined with a printing press, especially an offset printing press, so that an ink fed to the printing press is tested or analyzed automatically before and/or during the printing process and the setting of the printing press can be automatically changed depending on the test result.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an ink processing process and an ink processing device is created, which can automatically test an ink being fed according to the above-described process and optionally add suitable ink additives to the ink in order to adapt this ink to the printing process, i.e., to make this ink suitable for the printing process. Ink additives which increase or decrease the water uptake capacity and/or the rate of water uptake of an ink may be used for this purpose. Reference is made, e.g., to the ink additives Colorthix and Colorstabil from the firm of Vegra, which can modify the moistening agent uptake capacity of an ink. Consequently, it is also possible according to the present invention to introduce an ink that is unsuitable per se into the ink processing device, which adds to the ink a suitable ink processing agent, e.g., colored pigments, binders, diluents, e.g., water, solvent or other additives, e.g., resin as a function of the test result, i.e., for instance, a torque curve deviating from an ideal curve of the ink being tested in order to make this ink suitable for use for the subsequent printing process. This process may also be designed as a self-learning process, e.g., using a neuronal network.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.